Topics tagged with 'Carbon News world'
Canada on track to miss 2030 emissions targets
10 Nov 2023
Canada is set to miss its 2030 target to cut carbon emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, according to the latest audit from the commissioner of the environment's office.
OPINION: How climate research is polluted by fossil fuel money — and how to fix it
10 Nov 2023
It's no secret that Sultan Al Jaber, president-designate of COP28, has a contradictory role as head of a fossil fuel company. But his situation points to a broader web of conflicts of interest that endangers climate progress.
China unveils action plan to reduce methane emissions
10 Nov 2023
China published its long-awaited plan to tackle climate-warming methane on Tuesday, but included no firm targets for reducing those emissions - only goals for re-using them as fuel.
Amid tensions with US, China tightens controls over exports and imports of key commodities
10 Nov 2023
China has asked exporters to report transactions of strategically important rare earth metals and oxide products, as economic security remains high on the agenda for policymakers.
UK watering down net zero policies 'will lead to rising deaths from global heating'
10 Nov 2023
The ‘watering down’ of net zero policies ‘will ensure that the number of deaths due to the impact of global heating on the UK population will keep on rising’, says climate scientist Bill McGuire.
‘Insanity’: petrostates planning huge expansion of fossil fuels, says UN report
9 Nov 2023
The world’s fossil fuel producers are planning expansions that would blow the planet’s carbon budget twice over, a UN report has found. Experts called the plans “insanity” which “throw humanity’s future into question”.
Disasters "very rarely not a design failure" - expert
9 Nov 2023
The UK's leading disaster expert says the term "natural disaster" conceals the fact that related deaths are often created by human action - or inaction.
Just 4% of top companies meet UN climate target guidelines, study says
9 Nov 2023
Half of the world's 2,000 biggest listed companies have set a target to get to net-zero emissions by mid-century, but just a fraction meet tough United Nations guidelines for what constitutes a quality pledge, a report showed.
Climate change has become a human rights crisis
9 Nov 2023
In a new study, experts have presented evidence that climate change is impeding the human rights of people living in the Pacific.
Rich people are the big barrier to stabilising the climate
9 Nov 2023
Efforts to curb climate change are failing. That’s partly due to the staggering contributions of the global elite.
The low-carbon energy transition will need less mining than fossil fuels, even when adjusted for waste rock
9 Nov 2023
Low-carbon electricity will reduce material requirements, but moving to electric vehicles will increase them.
‘Loss and damage’ deal struck to help countries worst hit by climate crisis
8 Nov 2023
Countries have agreed key measures to supply funds to the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown.
Three major gaps in climate-adaptation finance for developing countries
8 Nov 2023
Developing countries require hundreds of billions of dollars in investment every year to help them adapt to the rising threat of climate change.
We are looking for a transformational roadmap to transform our energy sectors: German envoy
8 Nov 2023
With less than four weeks until the next UN climate conference COP-28, Germany's special envoy for climate diplomacy, Jennifer Morgan, is in Australia for a series of meetings with key climate players.
The world’s boreal forests may be shrinking as climate change pushes them northward
8 Nov 2023
Earth’s boreal forests circle our planet’s far northern reaches, just south of the Arctic’s treeless tundra.
Can the PIF leaders’ meeting break the cycle after another climate fund setback?
8 Nov 2023
The PIF Leaders’ Meeting is an important chance to jolt the world into action on a climate Loss and Damage Fund after decades of fighting for justice.
Young trees are not responding well to climate change
8 Nov 2023
In the depths of verdant forests, where the tranquility is often only disturbed by the sounds of wildlife and rustling leaves, a silent crisis is unfolding amongst young trees.
We can now only stay under 1.5°C target if we achieve net zero by 2034
7 Nov 2023
The amount of carbon dioxide we can still emit to have just a 50 per cent chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C is even smaller than previously thought.
Banks pumped more than $150bn in to companies running ‘carbon bomb’ projects in 2022
7 Nov 2023
Projects that risk 1.5C heating target operated by companies receiving financing from European, Chinese and US banks.
What the ‘underwhelming’ Three Basins Summit means for tropical forests
7 Nov 2023
Rainforest countries from three continents agreed at the Three Basins Summit in Brazzaville to work together to finance and protect their ecosystems – but failed to firm up a unified alliance.
Capturing carbon with seaweed: what we do and don’t know, and what we’re unsure about
7 Nov 2023
Towering underwater kelp forests are often likened to trees, but seaweed carbon sequestration is far more complex than in soil-bound ecosystems.
Pope says he will attend COP28 climate summit in Dubai, a first by a pontiff
7 Nov 2023
Pope Francis said that he will attend the COP28 climate conference starting next month in Dubai, the first time a pontiff will be at the U.N. environmental meeting since they began in 1995.
Why can’t we just quit cows?
7 Nov 2023
Eating less beef, cheese, and ice cream would slash emissions. If only it were that easy.
Global heating is accelerating, warns scientist who sounded climate alarm in the 80s
6 Nov 2023
Study delivers dire warning although rate of increase is debated by some scientists amid a record-breaking year of heat.
Scientists say only transformational change will avoid environmental tipping points
6 Nov 2023
Ahead of COP28, UN-backed scientists warn that to avoid six irreversible climatic and ecological changes, the root causes must be addressed.
Australia’s bid to host climate talks is welcome but its words must be matched with action
6 Nov 2023
The climate minister of Pacific Island Vanuatu says those choosing the Cop31 host should examine Australia’s gas expansion plans.
Pasifika activists say climate inaction is a violation of human rights
6 Nov 2023
The Pacific Islands are on the frontline of climate change, with the future for many living there becoming increasingly uncertain.
As climate threats grow, poor countries still aren't getting enough money to prepare
6 Nov 2023
The world is facing more extreme weather that scientists say is fueled by human-driven climate change.
Climate scientists are working with indigenous tribes
6 Nov 2023
Native peoples have long collected environmental data. Now scientists are cataloguing these observations and learning how they're affecting indigenous communities globally.
COP28 Presidency launches net zero transition charter
3 Nov 2023
Charter launched to drive corporate climate action amid flurry of pre-COP activity, including confirmation that King Charles will attend climate talks.
Levy on aviation and maritime firms should be considered
3 Nov 2023
Ireland’s environment minister made the case for the World Bank to administer any agreed climate loss and damage funding.
Cigarette-style climate warnings on food could cut meat consumption, study suggests
3 Nov 2023
Durham University research found warnings of environmental or health impacts reduced choice of meals containing meat by 7-10%.
Philanthropic giving to climate change stayed flat in 2022
3 Nov 2023
Despite increased urgency of reducing emissions, a new analysis shows that total philanthropic giving by foundations and individuals remained essentially flat from 2021 through 2022.
California startup to 'sponge' CO2 from atmosphere
3 Nov 2023
Scrubbing carbon dioxide from the air is imperative if humanity is to limit global warming, experts say, and a California startup says it can do just that, using limestone as a carbon-sucking sponge.
New approach: save tropical forests by restoring faith in carbon credits
3 Nov 2023
Valuing the carbon storage potential of natural habitats aims to help restore faith in offset schemes, by enabling investors to directly compare carbon credit pricing across projects.
This California desert oasis has lessons for climate change
2 Nov 2023
Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is so green right now it’s hard to believe it’s in the middle of the desert.
Engineers create cool water patches to protect fish from climate change
2 Nov 2023
Cold-loving fishes, like Atlantic salmon, may get their own version of air conditioning to cope with high summer water temperatures.
A new hope for concentrating solar power
2 Nov 2023
Concentrating solar power systems are getting an energy efficiency makeover and a new job: producing solar fuels.
A critical meeting before the big COP28 summit will tackle thorny issues
1 Nov 2023
Set against the backdrop of heightened Middle Eastern tensions, the United Arab Emirates is hosting a series of key meetings this week to prepare for the upcoming UN Climate Summit in Dubai.
US pushes to ensure nuclear “is not forgotten” in COP renewables pledge
1 Nov 2023
The United States is working behind the scenes to ensure nuclear power is not excluded from an expected global pledge to boost renewables at the upcoming climate summit in Dubai.
Why many scientists are now saying climate change is an all-out ‘emergency’
1 Nov 2023
Escalating rhetoric comes as new study shows there’s just six years left to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius at current CO2 emissions rate.
The Beetaloo gas field is a climate bomb. How did CSIRO modelling make it look otherwise?
1 Nov 2023
As Australia braces for a summer of projected extreme heatwaves and bushfires, the fossil gas industry is gearing up for a truly enormous new fracking project in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
Who were the worst of the worst climate polluters in 2022?
1 Nov 2023
US Environmental Protection Agency’s annual greenhouse gas report for large emitters show some facilities slashed their emissions while others polluted more than ever.
Caterpillars struggle to survive climate changes: study
1 Nov 2023
Research on nature reserves and at an allotment has revealed how susceptible caterpillars are to climate change.
Window to avoid 1.5°C of warming will close before 2030 if emissions are not reduced
31 Oct 2023
Without rapid carbon dioxide emission reductions, the world has a 50% chance of locking in 1.5°C of warming before 2030, according to a study led by Imperial College London researchers.
Inside the campaign that put an oil boss in charge of a climate summit
31 Oct 2023
Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of the UAE’s national oil company, secured the COP28 presidency despite questions over his green credentials.
Calling this "climate change" is not enough
31 Oct 2023
Journalists and meteorologists must go further, and call rapid hurricane intensification a symptom of fossil fuels.
The climate and nature crisis: one indivisible global health emergency
31 Oct 2023
Over 200 health journals call on the United Nations, political leaders, and health professionals to recognise that climate change and biodiversity loss must be tackled together to preserve health and avoid catastrophe.
Leaders convene to protect tropical forests
31 Oct 2023
Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, had the privilege of hosting the summit of the three major tropical forest basins on the planet.
Shipping contributes heavily to climate change. Are green ships the solution?
31 Oct 2023
On a bright September day on the harbour in Copenhagen, several hundred people gathered to welcome the official arrival of Laura Maersk.
Environmental groups call for ETS reform
Fri 20 Feb 2026
Several environmental organisations are calling on political parties to make climate and biodiversity central to the 2026 election campaign, with reforming the Emissions Trading Scheme seen as a key priority.
Media round-up
Fri 20 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: 'Every tonne matters': The climate scientist who wants to give you hope; Minister says managed retreat is an option; and climate change is here – is New Zealand ready?
NZ’s government wants tourism to drive economic growth – but how will it deal with aviation emissions?
22 Oct 2025
By Robert McLachlan, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University | Following a brief dip during the COVID pandemic, aviation is back in a growth phase.
Singapore sets first ever sustainable aviation fuel levy, as Southeast Asia’s fuel industry grows
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Flying in and out of Singapore, home to Southeast Asia’s busiest airport, will get slightly more expensive this year as the city state begins imposing a levy of between 75 cents to $32 per ticket to fund sustainable aviation fuel.
Greens slam move to disband Environment Ministry
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The Green Party has joined climate and health advocates in condemning the Government's decision to disestablish the Ministry for the Environment as part of a multi-ministry merger.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
Thu 19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
New study looks to nature markets to accelerate climate response
Wed 18 Feb 2026
The Nature Conservancy is teaming up with local groups to study the most affordable and effective ways of restoring native habitats at the top of the South Island, including ways to fund the work using international voluntary carbon markets and biodiversity credits.
Carbon price drops as volatility continues
Tue 17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market is still displaying extreme volatility, with prices dropping back to below $40 yesterday, after trading as high as $46.25 last week.
Flawed decision-making around taxing electricity to fund LNG import terminal
Mon 16 Feb 2026
By Simon Orme | COMMENT: The Government's decision to back an LNG import terminal exemplifies an egregious failure in public policy and energy sector governance.
LNG: a rational choice compared to unpalatable alternatives
10 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | COMMENT: By deciding to underwrite the private construction of a liquefied natural gas import facility in Taranaki, the Government has made a rational choice in favour of energy security and affordability.
Sustainable retail-office project breaks ground under new Green Star framework
Thu 19 Feb 2026
Construction is set to begin on a new retail-office development in central Auckland, which is targeting a 40% reduction in embodied carbon and 25% lower energy.
Opposition attacks Govt over fossil fuel phaseout backdown
2 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Revelations that Resources Minister Shane Jones ruled out New Zealand signing up to a 'road map' away from fossil fuels at last year’s global climate summit show the National Party’s minor coalition partners’ undue influence over the Government, according to Labour leader Chris Hipkins.
Carbon market rallies but auction floor still out of reach
13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The carbon market has rallied, with secondary market prices up more than 25% in the past two weeks, although current prices in the mid-$40s are still far below this year’s $71 auction floor, with the first auction of 2026 less than three weeks away.
DOC trims costs and winds down jobs for nature
10 Nov 2025
The Department of Conservation (DOC) is entering a new phase of tighter budgets and structural change as it winds down the pandemic-era Jobs for Nature programme and reshapes its operations to absorb long-term cost pressures.
Transport dominates NZ’s rising consumer emissions
10 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Transport pollution was the biggest contributor to an increase in New Zealand’s consumption-based emissions in 2023, with emissions from household travel up 12%, and consumption-based emissions totalling 58.3 million tonnes – up 1.6% from the previous year.
Slash for cash turns storm debris into jobs and climate resilience
Thu 19 Feb 2026
A community-led initiative in Tairāwhiti is transforming storm-damaged forestry slash into jobs, soil regeneration and long-term climate resilience.
Calls for action to reduce emissions as extreme weather bites
Tue 17 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | Renewable energy advocates and environmental groups are calling for more action to reduce emissions and increase resilience as severe weather wreaks havoc across the country.
RMA to speed up fossil fuel consents
18 Aug 2025
By Liz Kivi | An energy lobby group has welcomed a last-minute amendment to the RMA that puts fossil fuels on the same footing as renewables, however a sustainable energy expert says the move “beggars belief.”
European Central Bank's green supervision grows teeth, but will banks avoid being bitten?
13 Feb 2026
After several years of issuing guidance and repeatedly calling on banks to take climate and environmental risk management seriously, the European Central Bank is moving from guidance and expectations to enforcement.
Green Member’s Bill aims to give whales legal ‘personhood’
9 Feb 2026
The Green Party wants to give whales legal rights, including the right to sue.
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
Wed 18 Feb 2026
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
Govt missing opportunity to slash electricity prices, says expert
11 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s fixation on eliminating the "dry-year risk margin" as a lever to reduce costs misses a much bigger opportunity to lower electricity prices, according to Christina Hood, head of Compass Climate.
Media round-up
13 Feb 2026
In our round-up of climate coverage in local media: Senior UK ministers have asked their New Zealand counterparts to explain new climate policies, National’s LNG blunders are a warning ahead of election campaign, and what are the lessons New Zealand should take from another summer of weather disasters?
Wales council to buy and demolish homes prone to flooding
4 Feb 2026
A row of homes in a village in south Wales is to be bought by a local authority and demolished as they can no longer be protected from flooding caused by the climate crisis.
Climate law change spanner in the works for Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry
19 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government’s controversial changes to New Zealand’s legal framework for climate policy have thrown a spanner in the works for a long-running Waitangi Tribunal Inquiry into climate change.
Australian gas producer Santos wins court fight over net zero claims
Wed 18 Feb 2026
An Australian court on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit against gas producer Santos that alleged the company misled the public on its plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
Govt unveils plans for carbon storage regulations – and ETS rewards
18 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Government has released plans to regulate carbon capture and storage in natural geological formations, which include Emissions Trading Scheme incentives, with the aim of introducing related legislation in 2026.
Seabed miners quit South Taranaki fast-track bid
Fri 20 Feb 2026
By Craig Ashworth, Local Democracy Reporter | Would-be seabed miners have abandoned their fast-track bid to mine in South Taranaki waters, saying they can’t change the minds of the panel that rejected their application.
NZ's latest climate target 'weak' – Climate Action Tracker
24 Jun 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand's new international climate target to 2035 is weak, and could even allow for higher emissions than the 2030 target, according to a global scientific project that tracks government climate action.
Partnership to advance Pacific science and environmental leadership
Thu 19 Feb 2026
Media release | Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in Pacific-led science, research and capacity-building, with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and ocean stewardship.
Lawyers seek answers on climate impacts of LNG import facility
13 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Lawyers for Climate Action has written to Climate Change and Energy Minister Simon Watts warning that the Government's plan for an LNG import terminal could be in conflict with New Zealand’s climate obligations and emissions reduction targets.
Commentators slam Govt inaction in aftermath of climate change-fuelled storms
30 Jan 2026
By Liz Kivi | Climate action - or inaction - is shaping up to be an election issue, with multiple commentators drawing a line between the Coalition Government’s backsliding on climate targets and the deadly extreme weather events of the past week.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
78% of NZers want bottom trawling banned as Govt pushes to catch more coral in South Pacific
Tue 17 Feb 2026
Media release | New polling shows overwhelming support from New Zealanders for a ban on bottom trawling in the South Pacific high seas, says Greenpeace.
Critical minerals talks with US questioned in Waitangi Tribunal climate inquiry
9 Feb 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand and the United States' negotiations over critical minerals have raised questions for the Waitangi Tribunal’s long-running inquiry into climate change.
IEA Declaration strengthens international co-operation on critical minerals
Fri 20 Feb 2026
Media release – NZ Government | New Zealand has joined international leaders at the 2026 International Energy Agency Ministerial meeting in committing to strengthen global co-operation on critical minerals to strengthen long‑term energy security.
Antarctic sediment core reveals past ice sheet retreat during warmer climates
Wed 18 Feb 2026
A record-breaking sediment core drilled from beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is giving scientists new insight into how the ice sheet responded to warmer climates in the past — and what that could mean for future sea-level rise.
Solar households to get little-noticed tax break
23 Sep 2025
A provision in the government’s latest tax bill would exempt households from paying tax on income they earn by selling excess electricity back to the grid.
NZ-UAE partnership boosts advanced tech
9 Feb 2026
Media release | A new Antarctic science partnership with a leading UAE university will grow New Zealand’s advanced engineering and modelling capability, supporting high-value jobs, encouraging economic growth, and enabling smarter climate risk management, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti says.
Pacific climate response in question as NZ finance remains unclear
19 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | With New Zealand's $1.3 billion international climate finance commitment set to end with no clarity on what follows, the Auditor-General says oversight of that funding remains patchy and long-term outcomes are unclear.
Infrastructure plan calls for ‘predictable approach’ to electrifying economy
Wed 18 Feb 2026
Aotearoa’s first National Infrastructure Plan, introduced to Parliament yesterday, calls for "a predictable approach to electrifying the economy" as one of ten priorities for the next decade.
Climate ambassador moves on
13 Feb 2026
By Liz Kivi | The Government is on the hunt for a new top climate diplomat, with previous climate ambassador Stu Horne moving on to a posting in Honolulu as New Zealand’s Consul General to Hawai’i.
EU to ban destruction of unsold clothes and shoes
12 Feb 2026
The European Commission has adopted new measures that will require medium and large companies to stop discarding unsold clothing and footwear, in the bloc’s latest move to target textile waste.
New research on climate adaptation as severe weather hits
Mon 16 Feb 2026
As extreme weather batters the country yet again, researchers have published the first ever empirical study of climate adaptation justice in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.
Hydrogen plant to start construction
10 Feb 2026
Construction is set to start this month on Hiringa Energy’s long delayed green hydrogen project in South Taranaki, after years of consenting fights that culminated in the Court of Appeal rejecting Greenpeace’s challenge in late 2023.
